I have a confession to make.

[FlyingSquirrel]

I've been hearing stories about doom and gloom. A looming Depression. Global Warming. The country and perhaps the world going back to the Stone Age, nearly.

I have to say, in a way it sounds attractive to me.

I've just had enough of this life. Electronics all around me. A cell phone that I must keep with me near-constantly. A computer in front of me, a tv blaring in the same room that the kids are watching, (constantly telling them to turn it down)... tv at the checkstand. Commercials on the radio in my car. Credit agencies that still hound my wife ten years after a $100 debt that they've jacked up to $1000 and won't let her live it down even though the 7-year period for listing it on her credit report has expired. Handheld games, home video games, just constant electronic stimulation for the kids. They barely spend more than a couple hours a day without some kind of electronic thing making some kind of noise, even to fall asleep to. Silence is anathema to them (and me). Doing chores? A constant source of friction, there are so many other things they'd rather be doing. Contributing to the household is a foreign concept to them.

I just want it all to end. I WANT the depression to happen. I want the cable disconnected, the internet disconnected, hell, maybe even the ELECTRICITY disconnected. I want the kids to experience real life, not this. I'm only 40. I tell them about how there used to be no computers, no video games, no television in my house, no calculators even. What did you do? Well, we played and we read books. We helped our parents around the house.

There's no way they can possibly experience real life until something happens so massively devastating that it takes all the electronic noise-making mesmerizing attention-stealing gadgets away.

So I'm rooting for it. Just please, make the noise stop.

[Captain Angry]

1. I have a better idea.

You turn your stuff off.

If the depression you wish for happens, we're going to have homeless families on a scale never seen before, rioting, violence, etc.

I have a room in my apartment that has a lamp, and an alarm clock. Those are the only two powered devices in the entire room. No phone, no computer, no calendars, nothing. The alarm clock is there because it's actually my bedroom, and I do need to get out of bed in the morning on time if I want to meet people. If I want to escape the technical world, I can go in there and read or rest, etc.

Not trying to be a douche, but there are too many people hoping it all comes crashing down so that Bush might be blamed, or Cheney lose a few bucks, or rich people have to choose one of their summer homes to stay at for an extra week, etc. The old saying about cutting off the nose to spite one's face comes to mind, except in your case, you're using a nuclear weapon to take out a grass stain.

[dawgman]

2. While I can see your point

when it all happens 5/6ths of the world population will die. Are you a part of that 5/6ths?

[slampoet]

3. 90% of people like you don't even know how to find clean water.

Stop fronting.



PS - If you were really serious about noise you wouldn't live in Everett, WA right in the flight path of the BOEING AIRPLANE FACTORY!

[FlyingSquirrel]

5. I collect water. I'm a survivor. I can live off my wits (I hope)

And I'm serious about the noise. But I'm not the only one in my family. I chose to live here because my wife wanted to live near her family. It'll take some kind of drastic changes for society to return to a simpler life. But I understand your point and that of others. I don't wish bad things on anyone. I'll certainly share what I can with the people around me. I really don't think I'm "fronting". This is just my secret desire. I really don't care what you think about it... I know the Chinese curse, "may you get what you wish for." Someday I'll probably wish I'd never wished for it. But tonight that's my wish.

[slampoet]

7. Sorry to be harsh on you but ask some questions.....

Have I ever cleaned my own game that i killed? Do i know how to do it for all the game in my area without accidentally allowing feces from the gut to infect my meat? Do i know how to get game without a firearm? or bow? or spear? When is the last time I've been fishing?


How many days have i ever survived off of the land? (my number is 12 days and i lost weight, don't think you won't)


Can i set a broken limb by myself? even if it is MY broken limb.



And i have to add a personal one.


One of my parents has needed constant treatment after age 50 for a heart problem.
This was caused by them catching Scarlet Fever as a kid. They grew up poor having to live off the land and things that you thought only happened on Little House on the Prairie happened to them every year.

Are you prepared for a shorted life expectancy for your loved ones?

[Quantess]

10. self delete, for now.

And a lot of blessings.

[lligrd]

4. The Good Old Days

weren't really all that good. Just our memories of being carefree while our parents worried.

[masmdu]

6. Umm...Turn off all your crap or throw it out. Kids will get use to it...ours did...2 years now with

no TV. Video games. / Turn off the cell phone/ etc. Kids help more around the house, read more, play outside more, spend more time with us.

[Quantess]

9. Specifically, turn off the obvious crap

like "CNN Headline news"

[Quantess]

8. Get in shape and get some exercise outdoors

Myself, I'm a country/city, either/or conundrum. However, even in the suburbs you can get out, put on your "running" shoes, and get exercise. It is up to you whether you want to "run". Maybe you want to walk for 5 minutes, jog for 3 minutes, then walk another 15 minutes. No one will know but you.

I was really depressed from a broken arm at the wrist a few months ago, and exercise helped elevate my mood a lot!

Edit: I'm sorry I only offered a self-centered parental view of your situation. I can only imagine parenthood...